A large full moon hovered high in the dark night.
We approached Gongneungsan in the van that Yeomgeumja had arranged.
It’s embarrassing to call it a mountain, but it isn’t without slope. When we reached a spot where we could look down on the surrounding scenery, Seo Cheonseul spoke.
“Mr. Kim, is that it? The Paju Samneung?”
“That’s right.”
“The damn Dueoksini have released snakes on the burial mounds.”
I couldn’t see that far with my own eyes, but I had expected it.
The Paju Samneung consists of Gongneung, Yeongneung, and Sunneung arranged in a triangle over an area about six hundred meters wide.
They must have released an enormous number of snakes at all three sites.
“It’s a ritual to heighten yin energy.”
“Hmm, as you say, the yin energy is overwhelming. The ritual must be well underway.”
“At this stage, it’s not too late. In fact, it’s the perfect time.”
Wait, something odd registered on my detection.
“Ugh, this is as far as we go. Driver, please stop the van.”
“All right.”
The taciturn driver Yeomgeumja had arranged halted the van. If Jang Hyundeok’s car had been intact, we could have gone further, but this van was no match.
“Are we walking from here?”
“Yes. There’s a barrier. Besides, we’re almost there.”
We got out and took a few more steps, reaching the edge of the barrier splayed across Gongneungsan.
Hidden by darkness, it was hard to see, but... yes. A red-hued shimmer rose from it.
Seo Cheonseul, confirming the barrier, said with a glare.
“Ugh, they made it like the barrier around Cheongeumdang. Those wicked Dueoksini, how dare they distort Lord Manggeum’s teachings so.”
As Seo Cheonseul said, it was a ritual similar to the one surrounding Cheongeumdang. But unlike the vibrant yang energy at Cheongeumdang, this barrier was built of blood and yin energy.
No, wait. Besides blood and yin energy—
“Master Cheon, it seems there’s something else added?”
“It’s chukmisangchungsal. That greedy Mr. Kim must have provided the mountain offering.”
“Ah, the energies of ox and sheep?”
Its structure differed from my magic, so it was hard to discern. Fortunately, Seo Cheonseul explained the barrier’s effects.
“It repels outsiders, foments discord, injures bonds of brotherhood, worsens health, causes financial loss, and even brings nightmares.”
Health decline, discord, brotherly strife seem secondary, but the rest are no joke.
“Financial loss and nightmares. It’s aimed at Master Cheon, isn’t it?”
“Exactly, Mr. Kim. That makes it somewhat inconvenient for me to break through.”
Seo Cheonseul’s element is gold and dreams, after all.
“Don’t worry. I’ll break it.”
“You said you’d never seen it before, yet now you’ll penetrate it?”
“Once you know its composition, the rest is similar.”
In the game, I never had the chance to understand its fine structure. I didn’t need to—just press a button.
But now it’s different.
My intelligence stat, along with the knowledge I learned from grimoires, yields new understanding.
“You drive out yin with yang, right?”
I raised the Sain Chamjeong Sword.
Sain (四寅—In), created in the Year, Month, Day, and Hour of the Tiger, it embodies the tiger’s power itself. It was consecrated by Lord Manggeum, master of gold and dreams.
[SSS-Tier Weapon Sain Chamjeong Sword (Green존) Unique Effect ‘Aspect of Celestial Flame’ activates.
// Aspect of Celestial Flame: Fire-type spell effects are increased by 100%.]
[Flame That Burns Sin]
Kwaaaah—
Infused with the tiger’s energy, the extreme yang flame blazed pure white, devouring the yin-woven barrier.
Jjeojeojeok—
“Just large enough for us to pass. Be careful.”
Seo Cheonseul could have smashed it with brute force, but that would draw every heretic and Dueoksini within earshot.
I restrained the flame’s spread, carving a precise, scalpel-like breach.
Kkikikik—
Then reconstruction and conversion.
[System: Hidden Trait ‘Heir of the Corpse Pile’ activates.]
It wasn’t intended for this use, but I manifested the trait to supply enough yin.
The barrier stabilized with a hole just our size.
“Good. Simple, right?”
“At this level, piercing it is no issue. Remarkable precision.”
Whoever made the barrier won’t know why theirs failed.
Seo Cheonseul’s expression shifted from wonder to seriousness.
“But, Mr. Kim, just now you drew not only Lord Manggeum’s power, but another’s as well?”
“Hmm—”
It wasn’t a joking expression.
“—That’s right.”
“Mr. Kim, neither humans nor dokkaebi, nor even those wicked Dueoksini, carry so many energies.”
“That’s true.”
“If the Dueoksini could have served both Lord Manggeum and the Blood Demon King, they would. Carrying so much will drive one mad, or shatter soul and spirit.”
Unfortunately, I’m already mad.
And my recent breakdowns may be symptoms of fractured soul and spirit, not mere lunacy.
“Well, that’s a story for later.”
I said, pointing ahead. Seo Cheonseul smiled pleased.
“Aha. We have work to do now.”
She donned the half-mask that covered half her face.
“Wh-who goes there!?”
Only then did a cultist of the Gourmet Expeditionary Force spot us.
A grotesque horned figure, yet its aura was unimpressive.
[Shadow Veil]
[Sound Distortion]
Shadow blocked its sight, and a sound-bending barrier enveloped it.
Understanding my intent, Seo Cheonseul cried “Eolssu!” and launched with her Diamond Vajra.
Kwaang!
A tremendous noise, light, and shockwave erupted, but none nearby could see or hear it.
She twisted the cultist she’d grabbed and flung him, then laughed.
“Baha haha— it’s like reenacting the legend of the egg dokkaebi traveling on Bongilcheon.”
“Egg dokkaebi?”
“Yes. Locals say a faceless dokkaebi and a half-faced dokkaebi lure people here.”
“Aha?”
What nonsense is that?
“I thought it was baseless folklore, but perhaps it was prophecy for today.”
“No, I think it’s just baseless folklore.”
“Baha haha— anyway, good. Looks like we’re almost at the top.”
Seo Cheonseul dashed ahead.
The cultists’ ritual was shaking reality around us.
Thanks to it, Seo Cheonseul could advance three or four steps with each stride.
“Ugh— keep up!”
My body, unaccustomed to hiking, couldn’t catch up to the excited dokkaebi dashing ahead.
Having already reached the summit, Seo Cheonseul subdued another cultist—Gahk! “Arrgh!” She watched me panting.
“Pitifully frail body. It’s not just innate weakness. A curse clings to you. Magic and divine items assist, but the curse is too strong to fully overcome.”
[Stamina Down], [Strength Weakness], [Health Weakness]... the names of the curses afflicting me.
“Haa— phew. But enduring the curses brought other gains.”
“Mr. Kim, you’re in a dangerous state, no doubt.”
“The most dangerous thing tonight isn’t me, but Bongilcheon. Look. It’s begun.”
A massive surge of red mana shot up from all directions.
And the bizarre ritual at the center of Paju Samneung came into view.
“Damn. I often call it a blasphemous ritual, but this is truly blasphemous.”
Gongneungsan, where Kim Sinhwa and Seo Cheonseul stood, lies west of Paju Samneung.
A bit further east are Gongneung, where Queen Jeong of King Yejong rests; Sunneung, where Queen Gonghye of King Seongjong rests; and Yeongneung, for Crown Prince Jin and Crown Princess Hyosun.
Arranged in a triangular formation about six hundred meters across, at its center an utterly grotesque ritual unfolded.
“Hehehe— hehei— heaya— ehe— e— heiriroya—”
“E-hei ee— heiriroya—”
“Yaha— e— hehee— eohheo— eo— heoi— eoh— ya.”
Under the bright full moon, an entrancing song and music spread.
Though composed of meaningless syllables, those with special talent draw power through this chant.
Alien-shaped Dueoksini sang, danced, and dug into the earth.
“Ugh— I can’t digest this.”
A line-foreman with an elephant-like head clutched his belly in discomfort.
Amid gut-wrenching pain, snakes or tentacles writhed beneath his abdominal skin.
“That bastard Hosanghyun.”
A woman wearing a pig’s head mask approached him.
“You’re the one who ruined the masquerade?”
“That’s right. He was nastier than expected.”
“If our leader lends you power, you’ll digest it soon enough.”
“Right. And it seems preparations are nearly complete.”
The heretics of the Gourmet Expeditionary Force who watched the Dueoksini ritual burst into grotesque laughter.
Dozens wore the heads of ox, pig, or sheep.
Their heads were not masks. Their faces had mutated into those beasts.
“It looks like preparations are almost done.”
The Dueoksini’s pit was nearly completed.
They intended to create a fourth tomb here in Paju Samneung, unnecessary to the site.
“The Dueoksini have completed the sacred pit.”
Shrrrk—
Hundreds of snakes covered the graves arranged on three sides.
Yeomgeumja had prepared fewer, but the snakes kept dividing, multiplying as if on their own.
Their countless bodies tangled and coiled, forming a revolting mass.
“Pour in the holy blood now!”
Hidden in darkness, the Dueoksini danced their eerie, chilling dance as they advanced.
“Eeeeh— hehei— heaya— ehei— heiya!”
“Heori— eya— noho— hoohoh—”
Each bore a grotesquely swollen abdomen.
Approaching the pit, they all vomited the blood they’d ingested.
“Guwheeeeeek! Gueoeoeoek!”
A torrent of blood poured out.
The parched pit, formed by an evil ritual, writhed like the jaws of a starving beast, greedily swallowing the blood.
Crimson yin mana shot upward into the sky.
“If our leader could descend today, that would be ideal, but tonight’s ritual will lay the foundation for his great advent!”
The line-foreman cried to the surrounding cultists and Dueoksini.
“When the [White Attendant] returns from beyond our world, our leader will awaken, feasting on sacrificial victims alongside rivers of red blood!”
The cultists, drunk on faith and madness, began to chant.
“The sleeping leader beneath the earth will grant miracles.”
“The only way to survive the apocalypse!”
“Yes! This is true salvation!”
“Our efforts will save all humanity!”
Their hearts were pure and unwavering.
Indeed, clear and intuitive.
“With this, all humans will gain power like ours!”
“Let us share the ability to consume anything!”
“Those without faith will feast on rocks and soil, monsters and yokai, just like us!”
Watching their cries, the line-foreman smiled in satisfaction.
“Yes, yes. This is the proper face of true believers.”
A true believer follows great-vehicle doctrine, seeking salvation even for the faithless.
Meanwhile, east of the cultists’ ritual site.
Beyond Sunneung, where hundreds of snakes writhed, a forest.
Three trucks reached the limit of vehicular access.
In their beds lay a massive ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) iron cage covered with thick tarpaulin.
Whatever was inside emitted a horrific stench and clamor.
“We’ve arrived.”
The lead vehicle’s driver said cautiously to Yeomgeumja in the passenger seat.
“What a fucking mess.”
Mumbling the curse with eyes closed, Yeomgeumja slowly opened his eyes.
He pulled out his smartphone and called Kim Sinhwa.
“We’re here. Two hundred, all alive as you requested.”
“Good, you nailed it. I can see it from here. I’ll open the barrier and signal soon, so be ready.”
Kim Sinhwa hung up as soon as he finished speaking.
Yeomgeumja closed his eyes again and muttered.
“Damn it, how did I get roped into this shit....”
